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Media Concentration

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The planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, worth around 110 billion dollars, would be one of the largest mergers in the media industry and would create an unprecedented concentration in Hollywood. The driving force is the Ellison family: David Ellison had merged his studio Skydance with Paramount in August 2025, while his father, the Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, controls the majority of the company. If the deal went through, the combined company would unite brands such as Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., CBS, CNN, HBO, Discovery and Nickelodeon under one roof, which critics, given the Ellisons' Trump-friendly stance, regard as a threat to media diversity and editorial independence. The merger is under antitrust review on both sides of the Atlantic: the European Commission approved it on 22 July 2026 subject to conditions, such as exiting a film-distribution joint venture with Universal, while in the US resistance persists from states, the writers' union WGA and political headwinds.

CNBC: EU antitrust regulators clear Paramount-WBD mergerForbes: All the brands David Ellison is about to controlThe Ringer: The Terrifying Tentacles of Paramount's Media Empire

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Thursday, 23 July 2026Economy

EU approves Paramount's multibillion-dollar takeover of Warner Bros. subject to conditions

The European Commission has approved the multibillion-dollar takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance subject to conditions. The buyer must, among other things, give up stakes in a film distributor. The deal is valued at roughly 80 to 110 billion depending on the source.

Brussels is clearing one of the largest media mergers of recent times. Deutschlandfunk (public broadcaster) reports that the EU has approved the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance subject to conditions. The conservative FAZ and the liberal Zeit emphasize that, as a condition, Paramount must give up stakes in a film distributor. Le Figaro (France) puts the transaction at around 110 billion dollars, the left-liberal Guardian (United Kingdom) cites around 80 billion pounds and stresses that dropping a joint venture with Universal cleared the Commission's concerns. The differing figures are explained mainly by currencies and valuation dates and should be read with caution. The sources agree that the European competition watchdogs are giving the green light, while further reviews are underway in the US. The merger reinforces the consolidation of the streaming and Hollywood industry.

Le FigaroFAZThe GuardianDeutschlandfunk

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